That Something
by magisterquinn
Summary: Every relationship needs that something, that something that makes it work, that something that makes it last...BBxRae one of my personal favs


**Author's Note: Its a long oneshot. I had considered breaking it up onto 4 really short chapters but thought better of it.**

**Uhm, had to remove the other thing, turns out I can't have it up if its in my portfolio.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Teen Titans. **

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_**That Something**_

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**Something Old ****

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They were still the same. You may think that a little growing up was in order, but they defied every other law of nature, why not that one? Sure they had _grown_ up, but they hadn't really grown _up_.

Robin still gelled his hair slick like a bicycle helmet, and strong enough to be one. Starfire still struggled with words and babied the overgrown larva, Silkie, which, incidentally, remained an overgrown larva. Cyborg and Beast Boy still played their video games and argued about breakfast. And they all still sat around on Thursday nights to watch a movie like a team. All still the same, all still kids at heart.

Except of course for her, she'd always been grown up. Who else drank tea during their tender teen years? Raven hoped that as the eldest among them began to turn 19 that mature brains would follow their matured bodies. Not much luck yet.

But to their credit, little buds of maturity began popping up. Robin, hair still gelled, changed his outfit from the childish stoplight colours to the darker description of Nightwing from Starfire's future. Star herself kept her uniform but began taking English as a second language lessons, with encouragement from Robin. Their relationship has also come out from the secrecy of their minds and blossomed, with encouragement from the other three.

Cyborg… well, he got an upgrade and with it came the bad news of a possible future with heart problems. That is if he kept up his carnivorous ways, which he didn't much to Beast Boy's delight. He on the other hand matured the least. Growing to miraculous new heights, just below Cyborg at 6'2", alas his brain mass stayed the same. And, much to everyone's dismay, so did his sense of humor.

"What?" Beast Boy shrugged his shoulders at the groans he got at the dinner table, "Oh come on! Don't tell me you thought that was corny. Moo, get it? Moo?" He desperately looked for approval from his team mates.

Raven sighed and spoke for them all when she said, "Beast Boy, how _old_ are you?"

He leaned at her direction and waggled his eyebrows, "19 in 2 months, sweet cheeks. What's it to ya?"

He got a blank, annoyed stare in response, "19, and that means what?" He squinted at her and mulled the thought over.

"I can… buy cigarettes?"

"I give up," she shook her head and rolled her eyes, then turned to Robin, "Deal with him… Please?"

"Rae! I was joking!" He leaned over the table jokingly, toppling over the pitcher of iced tea on a sleeping Silkie, quietly napping on Starfire's lap. Startled by the cold, it jumped up knocking the pizza off the table and right on Raven's lap, cheese and tomato sauce smearing all over her. A scream and a chase followed closely after.

And on it went, just like that until Beast Boy turned 19. The jokes didn't get better until his 20th birthday, after a curious incident with a frying pan and a joke taken a little too literally.

"_Do you remember that?"_

"_Of course I do, you never shut up. What was I supposed to do?"_

"_Uhm, talk to me?"_

"_Do you think that would have worked?"_

"_No…?"_

"_Ding, ding, ding."_

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**Something New**_**

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Her 21st came with a party. She didn't know why and lord knows she didn't ask for one. Yet, every Titan was invited to Raven's masquerade ball.

Oh she protested, even pleaded for Starfire not to follow through with her plans. But it was futile, the invitations were out and a hall was booked. Raven begrudgingly accepted and cursed Martha Stewart for giving Star the idea. She sat through hours of decoration ideas, possible themes and menu layouts. They settled on a quiet masquerade, Starfire welcoming the idea of making masks and Raven welcoming the idea of possible refuge behind a mask.

"Oh Raven, it shall be a glorious event with candles, and dances, and napkins, and soup spoons, and tea spoons, and tea pots, and finger sandwiches, and finger bowls, and…"

Starfire went on. And on, and on. Raven just sat there, picking lint off the couch pillow sitting on her lap, wishing the world actually did end on her 16th.

"Oh! And we must choose your dress! It must be elegant and tasteful like the wedding gown of the little mermaid."

Raven thought back to the movie and shuddered, "I think its best I choose my own dress Star."

"Well of course, it is your birthday after all and we must-" She was interrupted by the main hall doors bursting open and an eager Beast Boy storming in.

"Hey Rae, Star," he moved behind the couch over Raven and grabbed her shoulders. She leaned back in acceptance as he pecked her on the cheek.

He whispered in her ear discretely, "Super Boyfriend here to save you."

"About time," she whispered back.

He laughed and turned to Starfire, "Can I steal her Star? We gotta… uhh…"

"Find him a tux for the party," added Raven, looking for any excuse to leave. She got up and grabbed his arm, pushing him to go.

"Yes! Good luck friends!"

They went to look for a tux that day, as well as shoes and a dress, the masks came later. First was Beast Boy's intervention.

"Dude, do you know what this is?" asked Cyborg, pointing at the spoon in front of him.

"A spoon?"

"But which spoon?" added Robin. Beast Boy looked up at them both, confused. They had him strapped down to a chair and laid out a formal dinner setting in front of him.

"The… little one?"

Cyborg shook his head and turned to Robin, "This is impossible man, Beast Boy is Beast Boy. Turning him into a gentleman is like turning a turnip into trophy."

"Hey! I despise that!"

This went on for days, the boys' secret meetings to refine Beast Boy, Starfire's continuous prodding for detail, and Raven's growing headache. But, despite great faults, the night came.

"You look-"

"Don't even," she interrupted, "you picked this out with me so don't even start with the 'you look gorgeous' spiel, kay?" She smirked at him through her mask and gingerly took his graciously offered arm through the doors of the hall.

The evening was a success, Raven didn't quite hate it and Beast Boy behaved like a gentleman. Starfire was ecstatic and Cyborg was found slipping a twenty into Robin's hand. Ravens burgundy and black dress flowed beautifully around her while Beast Boy's all black tuxedo complemented it with his burgundy tie. To say that she was shocked by his demeanor was to say the least. He smiled, he danced, he made polite conversation sans corny jokes, and he knew exactly which utensil to use during dinner.

"Who did it?" she asked as they danced, her hand gracefully on his shoulder, the other held firmly by his.

He laughed, "No one… Okay Cy and Robin, but I could've done it myself," she scoffed and he looked a little hurt, "Hey! I could have. I just hadn't thought of refining myself for you."

"Well, it's a welcome change," he drew her closer and she rested her head on his shoulder.

"Do you like me better like this?"

"No, she said closing her eyes and smirking, "it's just new, that's all."

"_That was a good night. I don't think we've ever had a night like that again."_

"_You don't think its a little cliché?"_

"_Like a fairytale? A little… like Beauty and the Beast." _

"_Yes, but the Beast never left the washroom with toilet paper on his shoe."_

"_Honestly! It was dark!" _

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**Something Borrowed****_

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_"What's this doing here? It's out of order!"_

A year and a half earlier, Beast Boy mustered the courage to ask her out for the first time.

"So Rae, wanna hang out later?" He quickly slipped it into the conversation after breakfast. She was taken aback by the question and stumbled over her words before answering straight.

"H-uh, sure. Just… you and me?" He nodded, standing very stiff as if he were afraid that if he moved she'd vanish. He couldn't speak, words weren't forming in his mind and his teeth were clenched shut. He prepared for this moment for months and now he was clamming up. He had gone over every scenario in his mind and he decided that quickly blurting it out during a conversation could trick her into saying yes. It may have been diabolical but he was convinced that it was the only way.

"Yea… you know, go for dinner, catch a movie, then just chill."

"Like a … date?" She eyed him suspiciously. He was smiling the most eerie smile, almost looking too forced. And he never forced smiles. He shrugged and made a few gestures as if to say 'no, not like a date' then gave up and just nodded dumbly.

She looked at him questionably, "Okay… uhm, what time?" He stood there genuinely confused; he hadn't looked at the times the movie was playing. He had no answer. He didn't bother to check because he didn't think he'd get a yes and thinking that far ahead might jinx him.

"Uh… 5-ish? In the afternoon? I'll get you from your room?"

"I don't know Beast Boy, you asked me."

He snapped himself out of it, "Uh, yea… 5 at your room… cool," with that he beamed at her and ran off, a little dazed.

He took her to a fancy restaurant, and spilled the punch on her shoes. He stumbled over apologies as she watched him kneel before her furiously wiping her feet and legs with his napkin. He showed her a sappy romance flick, and they both sat there utterly bored and sick to their stomachs from the movie. They both left without a word, feeling absolutely awkward after the 5 minute long sex scene and near vomiting at the sidewalk. He brought her to an open hill by the car impound lot, and the stars shone down on them as they watched cars get stacked into impossible piles. They sat on the front of the car; Beast Boy leaning back against the windshield, an arm behind his head, Raven sitting up cross-legged beside him.

"I'm so sorry," he said, slinging an embarrassed arm over his eyes, "This has been the worst date ever. I'm sorry I wasted your evening."

"It wasn't the worst way to spend an evening," he peeked from beneath his arm, "I could be in the tower listening to you and Cyborg argue." He groaned, suppressing a laugh from her predictability.

"Well, I kinda wanted to do better than that." A silence sat between them.

"Whose idea was it?" She finally asked.

"What do you mean 'whose'? Mine obviously!"

"All of it?" she asked skeptically.

"Erm, well… The dinner was Robin's idea, the movie was Star's and this was Cy's." She scoffed; she should have seen it coming.

"What would you have done?"

He looked up at the sky, "I would have taken you for a hike. Up a path to a little ridge where I go sometimes to get away, where you can see the back of the tower and the parts of the bay. It would have been a bit of a climb so I would have packed a dinner too…" He trailed off thinking about what that date would have been like.

She stretched out and lay down beside him. Then suddenly she propped herself up on her elbow and turned to him.

"That would definitely have been better than a night at the tower," she leaned in and pecked him on the cheek, "You should trust yourself more often." She lay her head back down and snuggled against his arm. A little shocked by her boldness, he froze for a moment then removed his arm from behind his head wrapped it around her, tucking her in closer. Smiles resting on the windshield of his beaten up old Honda.

_"That movie was awful."_

_"Yea I think it got one star."  
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_"Good, it should have got none." _

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**Something Blue **

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**"**See that wasn't so bad was it?"

He crossed his arms and huffed, leaning back on the couch, "Yea, yea… I guess."

She quickly pulled him straight up, "Get up, you're going to wrinkle your suit!" She fixed his collar for him as he spoke.

"I just don't like looking back on our old albums. I feel like such an idiot when I see those pictures. I never did anything right."

She laughed at his immaturity, "That's part of your charm," and gave him a peck on the cheek and cupped the other one with her hand.

"Besides, you did this right." They smiled and were interrupted by Starfire bursting into the room.

"What are you doing?! You must leave! Bride and groom may not see each other before the wedding! It is tradition," her strong hands grabbed Beast Boy and forced him out of the room, "Now you, find Victor and Richard."

Raven watched as her fiancé was tossed out of the room by her best friend, "Rachel, please, stand! You will wrinkle your dress." They no longer used their aliases since the team split a year ago.

Now 25 and 25 ½ respectively, Beast Boy and Raven were to be married. He had very nearly screwed up his proposal. He had gotten on one knee and had Raven near tears with his very well rehearsed speech which he spent months on, when he forgot which pocket he put the ring in. Fumbling for the box, Raven laughed and told him that it would have been uncharacteristic if he had gotten it right anyway.

"Kor, relax will you? You've already done the wedding thing remember?" Robin and Starfire were married three years ago and now had little Titans of their own.

"But I cannot help but worry Rachel, do you have your traditional items?"

"Something old," she pointed to the engagement ring, it was Beast Boy's mother's, "something new," she indicated the wedding dress, "something borrowed," she pulled up the hem to show Starfire's old garter with a smirk, "and…"

Starfire looked on worriedly, "Something blue?"

"Crap," she sighed and Star threw her hands into the air, "O well, Kor. Like you said we already blew tradition and saw each other before the wedding."

"But Rachel, this one can be redeemed," she got a funny look in her eye and went into her suitcase at the far end of the room. She searched for a while before bringing out Raven's old cloak. Raven looked on reminiscently and gave her a smile.

"You kept it?" Starfire nodded threw the cloak around Raven's shoulders, clasping it at the front.

"Do you think he would mind?" Star asked.

"No," she felt the fabric of the old cloak around her. Now it barely reached her knees and didn't wrap around her properly because of the dress. She ran her hands through it and felt for her hood, remembering when she no longer had to suppress her emotions. When she slowly started to come out of her shell and shed her cloak, so to speak. "He wouldn't mind, he'll love seeing it again."

"It still looks marvelous on you, Rachel," whispered Star, "Can you believe it? It is your wedding day. Would you ever have guessed this in your youth?"

Raven shook her head and chuckled, "No, not in a million years. Especially not to Gar, not to Beast Boy." She turned to the mirror and looked at herself.

A knock rang in the room, "Kor, get Rae out here." It was Cyborg, he was to escort her down the aisle since Robin was the best man. Besides, he had been more of a brother to Raven in the teen years anyways, a mentor almost.

Raven just continued to look at herself, remembering the old days.

"Rachel we must go, you look great, do not worry. You and Garfield shall be very happy, you have the most amazing love for each other."

She turned her body to Star, smiling, her head turned, glancing at herself over her shoulder one last time.

"Yea Kor, it really is something. Isn't it?"

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**A/N: How was that for non-AU? Hahaha. My favourite was the date, I like this relationship. I think I may elaborate including a second date.**

**//Edit// Drinking and smoking age in Ontario (which is where I am, Toronto to be specific, read One Bird, Two Stones) is 19. I realise I was thinking that drinking in the US was 21, Montreal drinking is 19**

**I just read through this and realized it doesn't sound like me... weird.**


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